The last few weeks have been an incredibly difficult and frustrating time for commuters on the Chase Line. Many people have sent me messages and pictures showing overcrowded trains, cancelled and delayed trains and even commuters stuck on platforms unable to board trains. As you may be aware I have travelled on the service in peak times to experience the issues first hand.
The severe overcrowding we are experiencing on the line is being further aggravated by a number of cancelled peak-time trains. These cancellations have resulted in later, two-carriage trains, simply unable to cope with the demand on the line and commuters stranded at stations, such as Hednesford, miles from their intended destination.
In recent weeks I have raised the many issues we are all experiencing on the line in Parliament, launched a petition calling for more carriages on peak-time services and I have also met with London Midland on several occasions.
I stressed to London Midland the frustration of local commuters and outlined the many complaints and concerns constituents have raised with me. I was clear with them that they cannot ignore this issue and have to take action to address the situation urgently. Next week I am also meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport to discuss the situation.
As well as the issues of overcrowding, delayed and cancelled trains there is the issue of fare dodging.
Last week I joined London Midland's revenue protection team and the British Transport Police who were working on the Line and I was shocked by how many people did not have a ticket and had to be sold one.
From Monday 21st November to Saturday 26th November London Midland's revenue protection team issued 192 penalty fares and a further eight offences were recommended for prosecution. Revenue Protection and Security managers also sold an additional 1,004 tickets during the week.
The sheer number of fines issued and extra tickets sold by London Midland last week clearly demonstrates the scale of fare dodging and ticketless travel on the Chase Line. It also highlights the huge increase in the number of passengers using this service.
I am appalled that so many people are not paying for their travel. This issue needs to be addressed urgently as it is simply not fair on honest fare paying passengers. One of the obstacles some passengers face is that when they do go to buy a ticket the machines are not working. This is an issue that London Midland need to resolve as well as having a robust ticket inspection routine.
I hope that London Midland can see that, while their efforts to tackle fare dodging is both welcome and needed, the volume of passengers using the line is far greater than they may believe, which will explain the severe overcrowding that passengers are experiencing. We need more carriages on trains on this line and urgently.
Daily I am receiving dozens of messages and photos of terrible levels of overcrowding and I would urge people to sign my petition calling on London Midland to put more carriages on peak time services on the Chase Line. You can sign my Chase Line petition at www.amandamilling.com/campaigns/chase-line.
Please do keep me informed of your experiences using the Chase Line as the more information I have the more evidence I have to demonstrate the passengers' experiences with London Midland.